Well-traveled goose is a real Florida snowbird

Gabby the goose and her owners, Jennifer Thomas, and her husband Larry, of Roanoke, Va., spent their fifth straight Thanksgiving weekend together at a Daytona Beach Shores pet-friendly hotel -- as in dogs and cats normally.

Take the cue from them and book your Florida Villas for the next thanksgiving

But Gabby's the exception to the rule. She has a clean track record, thanks to frequent diapering. 

Gabby is a somewhat rare Sebastopol goose. Gabby's family includes a dog, three parrots and a chinchilla. But only Gabby goes on vacations. 

The couple always pack Gabby's crate, special feed and a large supply of diapers when heading to The Shores Resort & Spa. 

If your're captivated by Gabby and thinking od adopting a goose, you'd better think twice. It's a long-term committment: A goose can live to be 50-years-old.

Read More

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/2010/11/welltraveled_goose_is_a_real_f_1.html

Boat parades: A unique Florida holiday tradition

Let's face it, Floridians, we don't do the holidays in the Sunshine State the way they do up North.

In previous Postcards installments, I've written about my family's tradition of heading out to the beach on Christmas Day for a game of touch football in the sand — not something that's an option, say, in Idaho.

Here's another holiday tradition that's unique: The holiday boat parade.

Hey, anyone can decorate a house. When you're putting lights on a houseboat, it's something different.

For the tourists this will be a great sight of Florida, for those who are confused about where to go here are some places you could consider to visit during your stay at Florida.

Once you step out of your Florida Villas There are an assortment of floating festivities, including:

•46th Annual St. Johns River Christmas Boat Parade: This year's flotilla is slated to cast off at 6 p.m. on Dec. 11 at Catfish Bend (Marker 36) north of Whitehair Bridge on the St. Johns River in DeLand. It travels south, finishing at roughly 8 p.m. at the north end of Lake Beresford.

There are a few recommended spots to watch from shore, including Ed Stone Park, at State Road 44 in DeLand and the Lake Beresford Yacht Club. For entry information and other details, call 386-801-5685.

11th Annual Halifax River Yacht Club Christmas Boat Parade: It begins at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 north of the Seabreeze Bridge on the Halifax River. From there, the boats travel south to the basin in front of the Halifax River Yacht Club, then turn into the north basin at the Daytona Beach City Marina for judging.

Viewing is available anywhere along the river or on downtown bridges at Seabreeze and Main streets or International Speedway Boulevard. For details, visit dbchristmasboatparade.com or call 386-255-7459.

•Marathon's Boot Key Harbor Lighted Christmas Boat Parade: Watercraft ranging from dinghies to yachts will cruise the harbor in a sparkling procession starting at dusk on Dec. 11. Best viewing sites include Lazy Days South, Marathon Marina, Sombrero Dockside Lounge and Burdine's Waterfront. (305-743-9629; bootkeyharbor.com/christmas_parade).

•Key Largo Boat Parade: This year's theme for the parade on Blackwater Sound is "Under the Sea," marking the 50th anniversary of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11. (305-451-4502; keylargoboatparade.com)

•Winterfet Boat Parade: The 39th 'Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade' will have Cirque Shows, holiday displays, BMX racers, a floating airplane, dancers, music and dazzling floats. Selected as the kick-off event for the City of Fort Lauderdale's Centennial, this year's parade will be held on Dec. 11. The Grand Marshal is current Dancing With the Stars cohost and former winner Brooke Burke. Tickets to view the parade at the Grandstand Viewing Area are $16 for children and $21 for adults. For more information call Winterfest, Inc. at 954-767-0686

Read More

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/os-fla-destinations-boat-parades-112820101127,0,701325.column

Miami Beach deals with hookworm fears

After relaxing in your Florida Villas with a beach view you would be inclined to take a stroll in the golden sands of Florida with a cool breeze but the latest news is that:

I went to Miami Beach and all I got was this lousy hookworm isn't the kind of catchphrase South Florida's biggest tourist destination would want.

But weeks after media reports highlighted a parasitic problem near the city's shores, Miami Beach and Miami-Dade Health Department officials are still trying to get a grasp on conditions contributing to a recent outbreak.

With the winter tourist season kicking off soon -- Art Basel starts in little more than a week -- Miami Beach is hoping to juggle the twin task of spreading awareness while reassuring beachgoers the hookworms aren't a widespread problem.

``The problem is that with all our dependence on tourism, on money coming in from that source, the last thing you want people to associate with our beaches is that it's a dangerous condition or a dangerous situation,'' said Vincent Conte, senior physician of the Health Department. ``That's why we're trying to get a handle on this now before it gets out of hand.''

The hookworm infections in humans are blamed mostly on feral and stray cats. Health officials say the infected cats spread microscopic hookworm larvae by defecating on pathways to the west of the beach's sand dunes.

Conte said the Health Department first learned of the problem from a WPLG-ABC10 reporter in late October. Since then, an investigation has confirmed seven hookworm infections contracted between July and September. Eight more are under investigation, including that of a 3-year-old boy who reportedly contracted the disease on the beach this month off 87th Street.

HOT SPOTS

In response to the findings, authorities say that during the last four weeks, officials with the county, health department and the city of Miami Beach have worked to identify hot spots from 40th Street to 65th, an area expanding out from an outbreak epicenter at 50th Street.

Health department and city crews have separately searched for signs of cats and droppings, sanitized areas and treated possibly infected cats -- sometimes by lacing food with medication. The nonprofit Cat Network is helping. And meetings with private condos are expected.

Conte acknowledged that other illnesses threatening South Florida -- such as dengue fever and encephalitis -- may pose a higher health risk. But the red, itchy and blistering rash that appears after a mature larva burrows between layers of the skin requires medication and can be ugly and alarming.

The Health Department has passed out hundreds of informational hookworm fliers to beachgoers, in hopes of prompting people to report infections and offer tips on avoiding the parasites: Don't walk barefoot. Stretch out on a towel, not the sand. Rinse off before heading home.

But at the same time, tourism and business representatives are trying to put the issue in perspective.

``The hope is that the media doesn't blow it out of proportion,'' said Jerry Libbin, a Miami Beach commissioner and the city's chamber of commerce president. ``We don't want this to become a situation of, `Oh my God, the sky is falling.' ''

Libbin pointed to Center for Disease Control findings that in 2002 there were 1.3 billion cases of hookworm worldwide.

``It's not a rare kind of thing,'' he said. ``It is serious, but it's being dealt with seriously.''

ANXIOUS PARENT

For Nakary Eriksson, whose 3-year-old son is among the cases being investigated by the Health Department, that may not be much comfort.

``The thought to know that your child has a living larva in his skin is horrible,'' she told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4.

Assistant City Manager Hilda Fernandez said the city began addressing the problem as soon as officials learned of infections from the Health Department.

But Fernandez emphasized that there is no proof that the hookworm larvae exist in the sands of the beach area east of the dunes where people lay their blankets and lawn chairs.

``We're out there cleaning. We're out there sanitizing, but fortunately we're seeing it's not in our sand,'' she said.

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau has also been brought in on meetings as authorities have recognized the potential impact to tourism, though Rolando Aedo, senior vice president of marketing for the bureau, says there is no evidence that has happened.

Reducing some of the urgency: Miami Beach's hotel hub is south of 40th Street, though some major resorts such as the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc are within the target area.

NORTH BEACH

Fernandez said the city is concentrating on the 25-block stretch in North Beach for now, but will check the rest of the city's beaches to make sure there aren't any other areas that could lead to infections.

Joe West, a Florida International University professor of hospitality management and chairman of the board of the local chapter of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said feral cats are far more prevalent among the city's residential area of the beach than the hotels to the south.

``I'd be concerned about it if it becomes widespread,'' he said. ``A couple of cases, though, doesn't worry me.''

Read more:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/23/v-fullstory/1940709/beach-faces-squirmy-problem.html#ixzz16NUr9Uyu

Hollywood Star Flocks To Florida With Family

Seems like the holiday fever has caught up with Hollywood too and ya all dream the Disney way to Florida Disney world.

WITH his gruelling treatment for cancer over, Michael Douglas begins to look happier and healthier.

Douglas, 66, and his beautiful wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, took their kids Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7, to visit the Epcot theme park Christmas tree at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The couple, who rubbed shoulders with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on November 18.

After his treatment for cancer we see Michael Douglas holiday in Florida with his family. Come on with luxurious Florida Villas, Disney world, Florida zoos and more why would you think of an another place. Way to go Mike


Michael finished his treatment for throat cancer last month, a grueling eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.

Read more: 

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/body-soul/michael-douglas-and-catherine-zeta-jones-take-children-to-disney-world/story-e6frfotr-1225960826161#ixzz16NMWwRH9

Pygmy hippopotamus born at Zoo Miami

At Florida's Zoo Miami, the recent birth of a pygmy hippopotamus is cause for big excitement.

The baby, a female, is the first of her species to be born at the zoo in more than two decades and the first offspring for 18-year-old mother Kelsey. "It is testimony that the zoo is doing all of the right things in order to make this normally shy animal comfortable enough to reproduce successfully and to be a great mother," Ron Magill, the zoo's communications director, said in a statement.

Pygmy hippos, like the more familiar Nile hippos, are native to parts of Africa, but pygmy hippos' range is much smaller than that of their larger cousins. Their habitat includes parts of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, and it's believed that fewer than 3,000 of them remain in the wild.

Zoo Miami is asking members of the public to help name the new baby by voting for their favorite name in an online poll. Name choices are Nzuri (Swahili for "beautiful"), Nyumbani ("home"), Leona (a play on Sierra Leone) and Asali ("honey," a tribute to another Zoo Miami hippo who died last year).

See another photo of mother and baby after the jump!

So what are you waiting for head out from your Florida Villas  to have a look at this cute new arrival and more species other than the homo sapiens at the Florida zoo

Read more

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/11/pygmy-hippopotamus-baby-zoo-miami.html

The Great Florida Beach Walk Photo Contest

Vote on your favorite photo from The Great Florida Beach Walk and VISIT FLORIDA will randomly choose one viewer to win a Mazda Miata convertible and a $5,000 gift card for taking his or her own tour of Florida beaches. Casting a vote by Dec. 6 for one of the photo gallery’s 825 miles of beaches will enter a viewer into the random drawing. On your way to victory do book your  Florida Vacation Rentals in advance.The winner will be announced by Jan. 31. Vote here: http://www.visitflorida.com/

The photos, taken by nearly 4,000 volunteers around the state on Nov. 6, show pelicans and terns fishing in the surf, sea oats in the rosy light of dawn, and shells on white-sand beaches. From Pensacola to Key West, the photos show people jogging along the shore with their children and pets, sand sculptors creating giant castles, surfers and kayakers on the water, and playful beach-lovers celebrating that their oil-spill fears were not realized in Florida — where the beaches are as beautiful as ever.

In the first two weeks since the Nov. 6 Great VISIT FLORIDA Beach Walk, the gallery has attracted tens of thousands of viewers and nearly 4,000 votes have been cast for favorite beach miles. A qualified vote constitutes an entry into the drawing.

Read more

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/travelsmart/2010/11/23/vote-for-your-favorite-beach-photo-and-enter-to-win-a-car/

Florida Keys Declare Open Season on the Invasive Lionfish

While you are having a relaxed stay at your fabulous Florida villas the marine ecology of Florida keys are possessed with a serious threat from a species called the Lionfish

Crawling through turquoise murk on the ocean floor near Tea Table Key, Rob Pillus glances at a half dozen lobsters that twirl their antennae in the fast-moving current. Mr. Pillus, an avid spear fisherman, would normally stuff the crustaceans into his mesh bag for dinner, but today he is after more exotic quarry: an invasive species called the lionfish that threatens to wreak havoc on this ecologically sensitive marine system.

Within a few minutes Mr. Pillus spots a lionfish and its extravagant zebra-striped fins on a bridge pylon. He steadies his homemade spear and skewers the fish, slicing off its venomous fins before putting it in his bag. He gives an enthusiastic thumbs-up and keeps moving.

Later, on the deck of his 28-foot motorboat, Mr. Pillus turns his bounty of five lionfish over to his teammate, Mike Dugan, who puts them on ice.

“Jackpot, fellas,” exclaims Mr. Pillus.

Mr. Pillus is team captain of the Lion Hunters, one of 18 groups of divers armed with nets or sharp spears who are here to compete in the final stage of a newly created lionfish derby in the Florida Keys.

Derbies like this are one way that officials and scientists are seeking to bring attention to the potential damage caused by this voracious, rapidly breeding fish and to control its spread, which in the Florida Keys has been so quick that wildlife managers are having a hard time adapting. The first fish wasn’t discovered until January 2009, when a single female was found and immediately removed by scientists from a reef in Key Largo. Now the lionfish is plentiful enough to have multiple derbies.

“We’re terrified,” says Dave Walton, site manager of Dry Tortugas National Park, a group of islands and an ecological reserve 60 miles west of Key West, where lionfish first appeared in September 2009.

If the lionfish’s impact on other parts of the Caribbean is any guide, Mr. Walton and others in the region are right to be concerned. It is a formidable predator that can devastate fish populations wherever it feeds. Researchers here examined more than 1,000 lionfish stomachs and found more than 50 species of prey fish inside, including juveniles of commercially important grouper and snapper. The fish also eat juvenile parrotfish, which graze on algae and keep it from overgrowing and killing corals.

“What we do know is what we can see in areas like the Bahamas where you go to a particular reef and all you can see is lionfish,” says Sean Morton, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, a 3,900-square-mile park stretching from Biscayne Bay to Dry Tortugas National Park.

If the reef system here is depleted of other fish species because of the lionfish’s appetite, the impact could be devastating to the region’s economy, which relies heavily on commercial fishing and recreational diving. Bob Holston, the owner of Dive Key West, a local dive shop, says the potential threat could spell doom for his business.

“Imagine going into Yellowstone and not being able to see any birds, any bears, any deer or whatever — you would just be looking at trees,” he said.

A native of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea, the lionfish has no known predators. It is believed to have been released by aquarists sometime in the 1990s and has since spread up the East Coast to North Carolina and through the Caribbean.

Scientists say the fish can produce 30,000 eggs in a single spawning event, and can spawn as frequently as every four days. “That means we’re looking at annual output of two million eggs per female,” says Lad Akins, a research diver and the director of operations with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, or Reef.

Scientists and policy makers are at a loss as to how to eradicate the fish, a goal that a 2003 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says is “nearly impossible.” The only hope, say officials, is some form of local control.

Which is where the derbies come in. On Nov. 13, 18 teams competed from sunrise to sundown to kill as many fish as they could with hopes of sharing $3,350 in prize money.

“We’re taking a part in the battle,” says Robert Hickerson, the captain of Team Frapper, a group of four divers from Vero Beach. Mr. Hickerson says he dives as often as twice a week. His “kill count” is a source of pride. “I’ve killed over a hundred of them. I try to kill them even when I’m on vacation.”

While lionfish numbers are growing, the fish can be elusive. Despite the best efforts of the 18 teams in the Lower Keys derby, only 109 fish were killed, adding to the 550 lionfish killed in the two previous contests in Key Largo in September and Marathon in October.

One potential solution is to promote the fish as food for another voracious predator: man. Lionfish are considered excellent eating. Indeed, after the lionfish derby here, participants feasted on fried lionfish nuggets.

“They taste a lot like hogfish,” says Mr. Dugan of the Lion Hunters. “They’re really good.”

Read More

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23lionfish.html

Vacation rentals up

A St. Johns County tourism leader says the area has a secret weapon to buttress an already improving economy.

Richard Goldman, executive director of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau, said Sunday a significant number of vacation properties in the county are not among an independent research group’s data showing hotel occupancy rising in 2010.

“It’s my belief that our vacation rental business is also up — maybe more than our hotels,” Goldman said.

Goldman thinks that brightens already positive data from Smith Travel Research, a company that aggregates individual hotel sales data and reports them back to St. Johns County.

To date, the firm reported a year-to-year increase of nearly 5 percent in St. Johns County hotel occupancy and 7.4 percent in rooms sold, Goldman said.

He said a significant number of county vacation properties are not factored in the research group’s data, and anecdotal evidence tells him rental business is up.

October was the eighth straight month of hotel occupancy increase in St. Johns County, he said.

Bed tax revenue is up this year and would still have been “significantly” higher without the one-cent bed tax increase implemented last spring, Goldman said.

“Enough people came here and stayed here that we improved greatly without that as a factor,” Goldman said of the increase.

Reporting of bed tax revenue data lags actual occupancy by about a month and a half, so there will be no news until the new year on how many tourists stayed where. Goldman said other travel data is released in mid-December.

Goldman said St. Johns County, Miami and Orlando bucked the trend of slight tourism decline this year in Florida, but with different catalysts. Goldman attributed growth in the two signature Florida cities to luring international business.

“We are not strong in drawing that business,” he said of St. Johns County. “But we are working on it.”

This year, Goldman said St. Johns County geared spring and summer events toward families and are targeting adult couples this winter.

Throughout the area economy, business owners said anecdotal evidence supports an uneven but active recovery.

Mike Mosley, who operates area tree-removal service Van’s Yard & Tree Service Inc., said starting this fall, home owners were again more willing to outsource their yard care. But, he said, recovery throughout his customer base is rationed.

“Ponte Vedra is consistent,” Mosley said. “In other areas, people are bargaining, and in some places they just say, ‘We wish we had the money,’” Mosley said.

Tony Lippi, who owns The Panama Hat Company on St. George Street, said the usually soft merchant months of September and October improved this year, likely as tourists avoided the Gulf Coast and visited the Oldest City during the BP oil disaster aftermath.

In June, The Record quoted area tourism leaders saying the oil disaster off the Gulf of Mexico seemed to be diverting some tourists to St. Augustine, boosting local business.

Sales have dipped at his store since the Fall spike, Lippi said. But his numbers are better than forecasted and he is hopeful for a profitable holiday season.

“The good news is tourism data is solid,” he said. “We see a lot of people walking around with shopping bags, especially on St. George Street.”

Goldman said numbers lead him to be positive about the local holiday economic season.

“Things are moving in the right direction,” Goldman said. “I think the trend of more visitors coming to St. Johns County will help make this a great season.”

Glenn Hastings, executive director of the county’s Tourism Development Council, which oversees the county’s bed tax, said the overall bed tax collection for the 2010 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was up by $988,000. He attributed that, in part, to the fourth cent increase in the bed tax, the visitor influx diverted here from the Gulf Coast after the BP oil spill, and the return of group sales business.

*

Occupancy rates for paid lodging, January through October 2010

January, down 7.6 percent

February, down 6.7 percent

March, up 3.1 percent

April, up 4.5 percent

May, up 0.9 percent

June, up 7 percent

July, up 10 percent

August, up 8.1 percent

September, up 19.4 percent

October, up 10.4 percent

Source: St. Johns County Tourist Development Council/Smith Travel Research

Book Your Florida Villas here: Florida Vacation Rental Home

Florida Gulf Vacation's Thanksgiving Special

Florida Gulf Vacation announced today a Thanksgiving Week special on all new and renewing Vacation Property Listings between today and midnight on Thanksgiving Day. Florida vacation rental property owners can now add their property to over five hundred beach and Disney vacation rentals listed on the site for just $72 for two full years of listing.

To take advantage of the Thanksgiving Listing Offer owners need only register as an owner on the site and then enter their information or email Florida Gulf Vacation via the Contact us at the top of each page and send over the information and they will build the listing for you. It doesn't get any easier or more cost effective than that.

Go to: http://floridagulfvacation.com/OwnerRegister.php to get started

or visit http://www.fabvillas.com/ to book some exciting Florida holiday villas

Dancers heading to Florida bowl

Sixteen students from a Potters Mills dance studio will dance at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., next month.

“It’s a celebration of what the kids have accomplished over the last eight years of the studio,” said Sarah Mason, who along with her husband, Chuck, runs and owns the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts at 200 Old Fort Road.

Organizers offered Mason’s students slots at halftime celebrations for other bowl games. But Mason chose the Orlando game because it was open to performers eight years and up — that, plus the location is nice for families who want to incorporate the trip into their Christmas vacations.

The bowl game will take place Dec. 28, and Mason expects to receive the choreography instructions later this week. Mason’s 16 students range in age from 9 to 18 and have experience with tap, jazz and ballet.

“It’s a pretty diverse group,” Mason said.

To help pay for the trip, Mason and the students will host a quarter auction fundraiser Sunday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Potters Mills, located along U.S. Route 322, just west of the state Route 144 intersection. Doors open at 3 p.m. and the auction starts at 4 p.m.

Holiday celebration

Penns Valley Community Church is hosting a free Thanksgiving meal to celebrate the holiday.

The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, at the Old Gregg School Community and Recreation Center, 106 School St. in Spring Mills.

Penns Valley Community Church leaders are partnering with other churches to host the event, and they’re encouraging resident to join them and bring a neighbor or friend in need.

Read more: 

http://www.centredaily.com/2010/11/17/2345722/dancers-heading-to-florida-bowl.html#ixzz15deRq2ab

Florida Golf Vacations

There are over 1100 golf courses in Florida, ranging from public courses to private membership only. Flat, open resort courses exist side by side with more traditional links courses.

Given the huge tourism industry that exists in Florida, it comes as no surprise to find that golf  vacation rentals are available to suit all tastes and budgets.

Golf in Florida is available rear round. From May through October the courses are seldom crowded, usually allowing for a leisurely round. Many private courses are open to the public at that time.

Major courses are often part of a resort complex and packages are available that incorporate several rounds of golf in combination with resort accommodation plus access to all the resort facilities.

Signature courses abound throughout the state with designs by many of the greats such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman.

Read More
http://www.go-florida.net/florida-golf.htm

Harry Potter Mania Universal Studios

Harry Potter Mania is returning to Universal Studios!

While Universal Studios is still riding a wave of excitement from its 2010 opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure theme park, there’s more Potter excitement just around the corner.

The wildly popular attraction is getting an added boost with the upcoming release of the next Potter movie: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1,” starring Daniel Radcliffe as the world’s most famous boy wizard.

Universal Cineplex at Universal Orlando CityWalk is celebrating by reserving all 20 screens, including the IMAX screen, for the “Deathly Hallows” movie premiere. At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 19, all 20 screens will show the new movie.

Tickets for the “Deathly Hallows” showings are available at the box office or through www.fandango.com. In addition, there will be a second IMAX showing at 3:15 a.m.

For those who want even more Potter, you can also purchase a special combination ticket that includes Thursday evening showings of the two most recent movies in the iconic Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” You can watch those shows prior to seeing the new 12:01 a.m. showing of “Deathly Hallows.” The special ticket for all three Harry Potter films is just $20.

Enjoy the experience and enjoy your stay at Orlando Vacation Villas

For discount Universal Studios tickets or discount Orlando theme park packages, please visit 

http://www.floridavacationblog.com/ 

Stone Crab season

15 October 2010 the long-awaited Stone Crab season starts in the Florida Keys official . Every year at this time  hundreds of thousands of kilos of Florida's delicious crabs are brought from the sea. The claws of newly caught Stone Crabs are first steamed, cracked and eventually served in melted butter or spicy mustard sauce.

It is noteworthy that despite the large quantities that are consumed every year, there is no danger to the existence of Stone Crabs is because  of the ability of crabs to grow again.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission  about 40 percent of the annual Stone Crab income comes from the waters of the Keys - this makes the region to Florida's main supplier of world-renowned delicacy.

Grab your crabs at your Florida Vacation Rentals

The Stone Crab 2010/2011 season lasts until 15 May 2011.

Outside of Miami: the Biltmore Hotel

Coral Gables has been in the years 1920  planned on a classy suburb on the outskirts of Miami. Four monumental gates (the most beautiful of them being the Douglas Entrance on Tamiami Trail) leads to the heart of Coral Gables: The shopping area is lively with exclusive shops such as Miracle Mile, jewelers, antiques dealers, art galleries and elegant restaurants. 

Overgrown with orchids Venetian Pool, a public swimming pool with grottoes and waterfalls, is fed by underground springs. Coral Gables landmark, however, the Biltmore Hotel. The highly visible pastel splendor construction dates back to 1926. The style: opulent, Mediterranean, the architecture is reminiscent of the Spanish hacienda-style. Here Hollywood stars come and go. Namely,  South Beach is too crowded, too noisy and hysterical. The leisure offer is simply overwhelming: its own golf course, tennis courts, fitness center, and - you can not emphasize enough - the Biltmore is equipped with the largest hotel pool in the USA - (Tarzan ') Johnny Weismuller was here once as lifeguard! Poolside palm trees, hibiscus and bougainvillea, the guys at the pool bar serves cool drinks and tasty sandwiches are a treat. 

In the extensively renovated hotel spa was equally devoted an entire floor. The spa on the seventh floor, offers a great view of Miami (in the evening and at sunset!) A feel-good atmosphere at its finest sceneries. Water, glass, bamboo, and refined furnishings make for a fine design and massage treatments to leave no wishes unfulfilled.  Palme d'Or at the fine restaurant, chef Philippe Ruiz to contemporary French cuisine ensure the place is fully booked even on weekdays often. The wine list will  amaze even the most demanding connoisseur.

Have this place on your must visit list and dont get too lazy as you will be  pampered  in all of florida especially the luxurious florida villas